Publication details
Výskyt klíšťat infikovaných rodem Borrelia na území České republiky
| Title in English | The occurence of ticks infected by Borrelia species in the Czech republic |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is a spirochete causing multisystem disase - Lyme borreliosis. The tick Ixodes ricinus is the most common vector of transition in Europe, although possibility of infection by a different blood sucking anthropod is not excluded. No reliable vaccination against borreliosis was developed to this date. Success of antibiotic treatment is dependent on early diagnosis. We investigated yearly the presence of the Borrelia DNA in hundreds of ticks coming from the Czech republic since 2008. The isolation of overall DNA from tick was conducted by commercially available UltraClean BloodSpin DNA Kit (MoBio, USA). Presence of bacterial DNA was detected using RealTime PCR amplification of the flagellin gene by LightCycler 2.0 device and with in vitro diagnostic medical medium EliGene Borrelia LC (Elisabeth Pharmacon, ČR). Positive samples were subsequently sequenced by using ABI3130 capillary sequenator. Between years 2008 and 2011 we tested 492 ticks from regions of Czech republic and 83 blood samples mostly from the veterinary surgery in Prague. Avarage infection rate was 36 % during those four years. July was the highest risk month, when avarage tick positivity achieved 67 %. Among regions with highest portion of infected ticks belonged Královehradecký and Pardubický region. In 2011 fell tick positivity down to only 18 % (due to colder summer). This is significantly lower in comparison to the previous years when avarege rate was 36-47 %. The occurence of infected ticks correlates well with weather in the Czech republic (rain, temperature). Employed diagnostic method of RealTime PCR is sensitive enough to capture one to ten Borrelia DNA molecules in a sample. It allows us to quantify DNA and accordingly determine overall ammount of borrelia in the tick sample. |